The present invention relates to a chassis for a track-guided toy vehicle having a front axle and a rear axle and a guide wedge which is movable about a first vertical pivot axle and cooperates with a groove in the raceway in the front area of the chassis, whereby the rear axle is driven by an electric motor, the rear axle and the electric motor together forming an assembly.
A toy vehicle described in unpublished DE 10 2004 011 934.1 and has a chassis with a front axle and a rear axle. A guide wedge is mounted in front of the front axle, rotatable about a pivot axle running perpendicular to the chassis and cooperating with a groove in a track for the toy vehicle. An electric motor used to drive the toy vehicle is installed in the chassis adjacent to the rear axle but between the front axle and the rear axle.
German Utility Model DE 7005169 U1 describes a toy car for operation on a track comprising an axle with non-driven wheels. The wheels are arranged to be steerable over the track.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,126 describes a model race car having a chassis with a front axle and a rear axle. The front axle is steerable, and the rear axle is supported on the chassis via a suspension system.
An object of the present invention is to provide a chassis for a track-guided vehicle that is optimized with regard to steering properties through suitable measures.
This object has achieved by providing that the assembly is movable about a second vertical pivot axis and is operatively connected to the chassis-mounted guide wedge via a control unit.
Among main advantages achieved with the present invention include the fact that through the cooperation of the assembly with the guide wedge via the control unit, a controlled steering performance of the toy vehicle on the track is achieved, thereby increasing the interest and pleasure in playing with the toy vehicle. In a first embodiment, the control unit is formed by a gear transmission and lever mechanism having four articulated joints which ensure a functionally reliable kinematic transfer of angular movements between the assembly and the guide wedge. The lever mechanism and gear transmissions that are implementable with a justifiable effort can be accommodated easily in the chassis. This is logically also true of a second embodiment of a control unit having a lever mechanism with five articulated joints.